Dedicated doctor and all-round “dynamo” Dr Jean Littlewood — who earned her stripes working as a GP at Wellington Hospital — was named as the best trainee in the bush recently.

Dr Jean was recently honoured with the Rural Doctor in Training of the Year Award by the Rural Doctors Association of Australia’s (RDAA) at their Conference Dinner in Perth.

After the win, she credited local Wellington medical icon, Dr Ian Spencer, as a key mentor in her rise as a doctor, and as a human being.

“There were a lot of fantastic doctors and health staff at the Dubbo Hospital whom I learnt a lot from, before making the move to general practice in Wellington to continue my training; this was with the legendary Dr Ian Spencer, who has been there for 50 years!” Littlewood said

“You couldn’t train under a better doctor; he taught me so much about medicine, and about being a good person,” she added.

A dedicated country medico in her final year of training to become a Rural Generalist (RG), Dr Jean’s award is in recognition of her work in rural health advocacy and “levelling the playing field” for rural junior doctors across the state, RDAA President Dr Sarah Chalmers, said.

“Jean is an absolute dynamo; her advocacy efforts so early in her career have already left an enormous legacy that will benefit countless junior doctors who want to ‘go rural’ in the future… as well as the rural and remote communities in which they will work,” Dr Chalmers said.

“Throughout her medical training, she has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to rural health and pursuing a career as a Rural Generalist doctor,” she added.

While she initially undertook her first years of medical studies at the Sydney campus of the University of NSW, she then moved to the University’s Port Macquarie Rural Clinical School to complete her medical degree.

“After that, it was ‘rural all the way’,” Dr Chalmers said.

“She completed her internship and residency years at Dubbo Base Hospital, before commencing Rural Generalist training at that hospital’s Emergency Department, through the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM),” she revealed.

Her journey as an RG Registrar has subsequently seen her working in general practices in Wellington and Coonabarabran, as well as those towns’ district hospitals.

“Both communities are rural locations that have struggled to recruit doctors due to ongoing doctor workforce shortages,” Dr Chalmers said.

“Despite being incredibly busy working as a junior doctor and studying to complete her RG Registrar training, Jean has been very active in the advocacy space.”

Littlewood was raised on a small farm between Tamworth and Gunnedah in north-west NSW, and attended the local primary school of about 30 children in Somerton.

Outside medicine, Dr Littlewood has a passion for playing rugby, which took flight when she was undertaking her medical studies.

She has since gone on to play rugby union at a high level in NSW, including on the NSW Country Rugby Union (Corellas) Representative team and zone representative teams for the Central West, Central North and Mid North Coast — as well as on the local teams in Gunnedah, Port Macquarie and Dubbo.